All of Atlanta Community School's 2008 graduating class will be pursuing a higher education or some sort of trade school in the fall of 2008. Of the 24 graduated seniors, 10 will be going to four-year institutions, 10 will be going to community colleges and four will be going to trade schools.
Principal Darrel Kent said he has seen five graduations since he's been at the Atlanta Community Schools but has never had 100 percent of his students seeking higher education. Kent said in the past Atlanta Community Schools has had a pretty decent percentage of its students seeking higher education - usually between 70-80 percent.
"I'm pleased to see students are graduating with a goal or a plan in mind," Kent said. "I see that as a positive trend."
He also said the class size this year was a little smaller than in previous years, where the class size has averaged around 30 students. He said the school had a guidance counselor work with the students this year, which hasn't been available to the students in the past.
Kent said having a goal in mind really seemed to be important to this class. He said kids would work on each other to make sure they all had plans after graduation, kind of like a peer pressure.
"It really seemed to be a priority to this class," Kent said.
One of this year's graduates, Joshua Cunningham, agreed. He said the graduating class loves to prove people wrong because so many people didn't think they would amount to anything coming from such a small town. He said a lot of people think of Alpena or Gaylord first and forget that Atlanta is in between.
One of the classes salutatorians, Kayla Flynn, said most of the class has been together since kindergarten and is really competitive.
"I think we all really encouraged each other," Flynn said.
She said she had been competing with her friends since junior high. She said they would always ask "what did you get on this test?"
Cunningham will be attending Central Michigan University in the fall and plans on pursuing pre-med and intends to become a heart surgeon. He said several people in his family have heart conditions and his mom inspired him to choose that career path.
Cunningham said once he's at CMU he would like to try out for the football team; he played safety on Atlanta's football team. In high school, he also used to play basketball and baseball and was the only boy in National Honor Society.
Flynn will be attending Albion in the fall. She said she is undecided in her major, but chose Albion because it's a small college with great educators. While in highschool, Flynn was involved with National Honor Society, Knowledge Bowl, band and sports.
"I basically got involved with everything because Atlanta is so small," she said.
Kent said 10 of the students received a total of 24 scholarships, with some students receiving more than one scholarship. Cunningham received a scholarship from Canada Creek Ranch. Flynn received two scholarships: the Presidential Scholarship from Albion and the Red Cross Scholarship. Senior class President Joyana Englehart received a full-ride basketball scholarship to Kirtland Community College, which she will be attending in the fall. She plans to attend Kirtland for two years, study criminal justice and would like to work for the FBI one day.
Board of education Treasurer Donna Anderson is excited for the students who received the scholarships. Anderson said she tries to make the students aware of the different scholarships out there.
"I think scholarships are an important thing these days. I think they're a vital tool for kids to use to help them go to school," she said.
Kent said parents are normally the single biggest influence on the students, maybe even before their peers.
Cunningham said parents of the graduates always have been supportive of the class, especially Monica Englehart and Dawn Carroll. He said his family has been supportive and has pushed him to apply for college, scholarships and do community service.
"I'm the only kid in my family going to college," he said.
Flynn said her parents were really supportive and wanted her to go to college. She said her friend's parents pushed them as well.
Crystal Nelson can be reached via e-mail at cnelson@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693.